Miles and miles from the lottery, Edmonton's NHL team is drafting good hockey players. That is rarely enough, as we all know that 99% of life's success comes from following through.

A good way to gauge a team's draft success is by counting the number of kids who are developed the old fashioned way: the minors. Seeing a #1 overall pick turn out is great fun, but also expected; even a pick like Sam Gagner should deliver a quality NHL player.

It's the "following through" that makes the difference: taking talented kids and grinding them into useful role players for the National Hockey League. Those men--the tough defensemen, the two way centers, the physical wingers--are extremely valuable to an NHL team.

BENCH STRENGTH

During the twelve year period leading up to the OKC Barons taking to the ice, Oiler fans saw a lot of fits and starts from the club's AHL prospects. Here's a list of Oilers picks and minor league free agents who began their pro careers in the AHL and were good enough to play a game (or more) for the Oilers:

R Georges Laraque 695 games

C Shawn Horcoff 684 games

L Jason Chimera 581 games

C Jarret Stoll 515 games

R Fernando Pisani 462 games

D Marc Andre Bergeron 422 games

D Matt Greene 379 games

D Tom Gilbert 337 games

C Kyle Brodziak 337 games

R Brad Winchester 323 games

R Zack Stortini 256 games

D Alexei Semenov 211 games

G Ty Conklin 200 games

C Marc Pouliot 179 games

L JF Jacques 160 games

C Rob Schremp 114 games

L Patrick Thoresen 106 games

D Theo Peckham 102 games

L Liam Reddox 100 games

L Tony Salmelainen 70 games

R Jani Rita 66 games

D Mathieu Roy 65 games

D Danny Syvret 59 games

G Jeff Deslauriers 58 games

D Taylor Chorney 56 games

G Devan Dubnyk 54 games

D Ales Pisa 53 games

C Tim Sestito 46 games

G Mike Morrison 29 games

D Bryan Young 17 games

C Mike Bishai 14 games

L Michel Riesen 12 games

C Peter Sarno 7 games

D Alex Plante 7 games

D Chris Hajt 6 games

D Doug Lynch 2 games

L Alexei Mikhnov 2 games

R Colin McDonald 2 games

G Mike Minard 1 game

D Johan Motin 1 game

Guys like Tom Poti, Mike Comrie, Ales Hemsky, Sam Gagner didn't play in the AHL and Sebastien Bisaillon played all of his NHL games before he played in the AHL. I didn't count those players.

Results

Over those 12 seasons, the Oilers developed about 1 player per year if we assume an NHL player graduates at 200 games.

The Oilers also have several players "on track" to pass 200 games. I'd count Pouliot, Jacques, Schremp and Peckham as "on track" players.

I think we should agree a lower total seems fair for goaltenders. Let's say 125 games for goalers. That would mean that Dubnyk is "on track" as well.

Total: 13 players at 200 games or more and another 5 "on track" for the 12 seasons. That works out to 1.5 actual NHL players per season.

HARD NOSE THE HIGHWAY

The Oilers under Steve Tambellini have made an effort to employ AHL veterans who can help bring the prospects along. This might include facing tough opposition until the kids find their way, scoring enough goals for the team to be confident and competitive, and serving a mentor role as the boys transition into their pro careers. It's a very important job, one that may have helped Pouliot, McDonald, Jacques, Schremp and others in the last decade.

OKC (so far)

R Linus Omark 51 games

D Jeff Petry 35 games

L Teemu Hartikainen 12 games

C Chris VandeVelde 12 games

Guys like Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi and Jordan Eberle didn't play in the AHL, and I've included Petry in this group because this was his first full pro season. I don't know that we can project any of these kids for 200 NHL games, but they certainly showed some things in year one. There's some outstanding talent among those four names. Anton Lander, Curtis Hamilton and others may soon join the list.

That's a helluva first season.

Lowetide has been one of the Oilogosphere's shining lights for over a century. You can check him out here at OilersNation and at lowetide.ca. He is also the host of Lowdown with Lowetide weekday mornings 10-noon on TSN 1260.